The problem with prescription drugs is simple: The U.S. government bestows long-term monopolies on pharmaceutical companies, immunizing them from the forces of market competition and public regulation. As a result, Americans shoulder the highest drug prices in the world while receiving significantly poorer public health outcomes than most of the developed world.

Pharmaceutical firms typically argue that long-term monopolies are necessary to justify the money they spend on research and development. And major drug companies do spend billions of dollars a year on R&D ― but not nearly as much as they spend on marketing, meaning that most of the costs recouped by monopoly profits aren’t essential to groundbreaking science. Nearly all research funded by pharmaceutical companies, moreover, piggybacks on government-backed research conducted by the National Institutes of Health. One study published earlier this year concluded that every one of the 210 new drugs approved by the FDA between 2010 and 2016 relied on at least some government-funded research, reflecting over $100 billion of public investment. Gasp!

Oh no! Look at who has the most contributions from lobbyists. I’m sure they are just doing it for fun and not as a R.O.I.